Hockey match cemented as lasting Olympic image

Monday

Mar 1, 2010 at 1:27 PM

By DAVID BAUDERAP Television Writer

NEW YORK — A look at NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics:O CANADA: Well, it wasn't 1980 again, was it?Canada's 3-2 overtime victory over the United States for the gold medal in men's hockey undoubtedly left many fans south of the border disappointed Sunday. But it marked a thrilling conclusion to Winter Olympic competition from Vancouver, and certainly a feel-good story for the host Canadians.The hockey tournament brought forth many of the strengths and weaknesses of NBC's work from Vancouver.Arguably, it was hockey that was central to NBC's biggest missteps of the games. The negligible prime-time attention given to the U.S. team's early-round victory over Canada was a big misreading of interest in the contest. The network compounded the problem by showing a later U.S. game on a tape-delayed basis out West, an odd decision that it seems could have been avoided because it was so quickly corrected moving forward.Perhaps NBC misread the situation because it was so used to the poor ratings NHL hockey gets on its own network. That was quickly corrected, too: NBC smartly ran an advertisement for an upcoming NHL telecast during the gold-medal game, trying to take advantage of the excitement.The gold-medal game was a technical achievement for NBC. It was shot beautifully, taking full advantage of high-definition, with super slow motion shots giving plenty of viewpoints of goals. The sight of the puck hovering near the Canadian goal line, just begging to be nudged in, was great.We also like Joe Micheletti's post-game interviews with Sidney Crosby, who scored the game-winning goal, and American goalie Ryan Miller. He resisted the temptation to be fawning in the former and funereal in the latter, simply seeking information.Mike Emrick is a superb hockey play-by-play man, and he kept in control while keeping you fully aware of the stakes. Unfortunately, the moment cried out for more than a good hockey play-by-play man. He should have been more mindful that many casual, non-hockey fans were in his audience, and not make it seem like they were entering a private club.Every hockey fan knows what icing is, for instance, but it would have been helpful to define the term for others.Similarly, when the game ended in a tie — and even before — NBC's team should have better explained to viewers what would happen in that instance, and what might happen if sudden-death overtime didn't produce a winner.Those are, by the way, pretty good problems to have. It means people care about what you're doing.HIGHLIGHT: Seems so typical these days for networks to rush away after an event is completed that NBC's decision to stick with the hockey game's aftermath felt welcome. It was important to watch what was, in effect, an entire nation's roar of appreciation for Crosby. The American men looked miserable getting silver medals hung around their necks.LOWLIGHT: Spectacularly wrongheaded decision by NBC to interrupt its coverage of the closing ceremony for the debut of Jerry Seinfeld's “The Marriage Ref.” Those enjoying the festivities were told to come back in an hour — at 11:30 p.m. on a night before work or school — for the conclusion. Let's just imagine if CBS had stopped the Super Bowl after three quarters to show “Undercover Boss,” telling people to come back in an hour for the fourth quarter. Incredible that NBC would wrap a show it has high hopes for, and one of its biggest stars, in ill will.MILLER TIME: It says an awful lot for goalie Miller's character that he attended the closing ceremony, and sharp of NBC to find him.RATINGS: Saturday night's telecast, featuring a U.S. gold medal in the four-man bobsled, was seen by an average of 20.6 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Co. Through Saturday, Nielsen estimates that 185 million people have seen at least some of its Olympic coverage, and the network expects that to be the most for a Winter Olympics since the Lillehammer games in 1994.

By JAKE COYLEAP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK — A look at NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics:POWER PLAY: Pregame predictions have never been confused for soothsaying, but Eddie Olczyk's forecast of the U.S.-Finland men's hockey semifinal lasted a mere two minutes and four seconds. Within 13 minutes, it was in tatters.Olczyk predicted the game would be low-scoring. Then the U.S. promptly pile up 6 goals well before the first period was over. The game finished 6-1.NBC broadcast the 2 p.m. game live across the country. The network was criticized for airing the previous U.S. game against Switzerland live on the East Coast but tape-delayed by several hours on the West Coast.Going into Friday's game, NBC could have reasonably expected good daytime ratings, especially because much of the Northeast was buried inside after another snowstorm. And excitement for the U.S. team has been running high because of its undefeated run in Vancouver, including an unexpected win against Canada.But within half an hour, NBC had a blowout on its hands, and viewers surely began dropping off.“Believe it,” said Al Michaels at the break.Olczyk did color commentary along with play-by-play man Mike “Doc” Emrick and on-ice commentator Pierre McGuire, who took his customary and curious position, sandwiched between the team benches like a mediating United Nations worker.“This is a shock to me, I'm sure to everybody,” said Jeremy Roenick, who joined Michaels and Mike Milbury in the studio intermissions.The goal blitz was a surprise, but it gave NBC what Milbury called a “dream matchup” of U.S.-Canada in the gold-medal game. In an evening game broadcast on CNBC, Canada beat Slovakia 3-2 to advance to the finals.Excitement for that game was already brewing in Vancouver. On MSNBC's “Olympic Update” show Friday, host William Geist took a live phone call from whom he thought was U.S. goaltender Ryan Miller. In a three-minute interview, the caller predicted a win for the U.S. against Canada — an audacious prediction that quickly began causing a stir.The problem was MSNBC's caller was not Miller. Following the “Olympic Update,” MSNBC broke into “Hardball” for what host Chris Matthews called “a little bit of housekeeping.”“We were the victims of a prank,” Geist said.Geist then welcomed the real Ryan Miller on via phone to apologize to him and let Miller assure viewers he made no such prediction. (A spokesman for NBC didn't immediately return messages Friday night asking how the network allowed the caller on the air.)The goalie could, though, see the humor in it.“I appreciate a good prank,” Miller said.Last weekend, when the U.S. upset Canada, the game aired on MSNBC while ice dancing and other events were shown on NBC's prime-time show — a program meant to appeal to viewers beyond regular sports fans. The Sunday final will air live on NBC at 3 p.m. EST — a matchup far more appealing to NBC than, say, Slovakia-Finland.It will be a big moment for hockey in North America.Televised hockey has generally been on the decline since the 310-day NHL lockout in 2004-2005, which took away an entire season. After that, Versus replaced ESPN in airing games on cable. NBC has held out, though, and continued to broadcast daytime games on weekends, including the NHL's popular outdoor games. The network also will broadcast most of this year's Stanley Cup.NHL commissioner Gary Bettman spoke with Michaels between periods and mentioned the “destruction” the Winter Olympics has caused to the NHL season since 1998, when the league's players began participating. The NHL has not yet agreed to let its players take part in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.Bettman claimed credit for the hockey product on display in Vancouver, even if Friday's game was so lopsided.“What you're seeing is really NHL hockey,” Bettman said. “This is a playoff atmosphere. This is an NHL arena, NHL ice, NHL rules, NHL officials and NHL players.”Yes and no.There are several differences, most notably: In Olympic games, fighting isn't allowed.HIGHLIGHT: Curling has undeniably raised its profile and won fans at this year's Olympics. Part of its fun is the quirkiness of a sport where brooms are central, teammates scream “Hard!” and everyone wants their stones in “the house.” Don Duguid, the 75-year-old former world champion curler, has done color commentary for most of the matches, and his folksy charm and sense of humor has been a constant and pleasant part of the curling experience. His skill is all the more noticeable when paired with NBC's other and more self-serious curling commentator, Colleen Jones, also a former champ. The two were together for Friday's contests on CNBC, including the women's final, where Sweden beat Canada for the gold medal.LOWLIGHT: NBC's Olympic coverage has a way of narrowing the field. Hundreds of exceptional athletes compete, but NBC highlights a few hand-picked stars. This year, no one was hyped as much as skier Lindsey Vonn. She quickly proved herself worthy by winning gold in the downhill and bronze in the super-G. But NBC essentially lost its star in the giant slalom on Wednesday (she crashed) and in Friday's slalom (she missed a gate). Vonn, making sure no one misunderstood her courage, told NBC she could have pulled out of the event after her crash but remained because “that's who I am.”OMNIPRESENT OHNO: Apolo Anton Ohno has also been one of NBC's highly promoted athletes. He raced twice Friday night, in the 500-meter short-track race and the 5,000-meter relay — possibly his last Olympic competitions — sharing in the bronze for the U.S. in the relay. NBC's Cris Collinsworth had a well-done segment in which Ohno relived his gold-medal race at the 2006 Torino Games. Said Ohno: “When you have four or five guys behind you, it's like they're trying to eat you.”WEB WARS: Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl on Friday sent a letter to Jeff Zucker, president and chief executive of NBC Universal, questioning “the practice of locking up certain content.” He criticized NBC for demanding that users who want to stream live events and replays on NBCOlympics.com prove they subscribe to providers that have deals with NBC. Kohl, who chairs the antitrust subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said NBC should allow users of different Internet providers the option of paying for the service. The network said it was “proud of our extensive coverage.”PATRIOTIC PARODY: Stephen Colbert's weeklong coverage of the Olympics had perhaps its finest moment Thursday night on Comedy Central's “The Colbert Report.” Colbert has honed his satire of NBC's fireside studio. (He last week crawled into the network's fake fireplace after chatting with Bob Costas.) On “The Report,” he has conducted interviews via satellite with the video screen in a blatantly fake fireplace. With a floating backdrop on Thursday, he claimed the studio had been moved to a zeppelin flying over Vancouver.RATINGS: On Thursday night, the Olympics on NBC finished its competition with “American Idol” with a win. Going head-to-head against the “Idol” elimination show (9-10 p.m.), the Olympics broadcast with the women's figure skating final drew 19.2 million viewers to the 17.8 million that watched “Idol” on Fox. The Olympics peaked from 9-10 p.m. with 25 million viewers. By comparison, the most-watched night of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin drew 25.7 million people.

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